Ukrainian President Zelensky visits a munitions plant in Pennsylvania as he begins a visit to the United States to present a “victory plan” to defeat Russia
CNN
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited a munitions plant in Pennsylvania on Sunday as he began a key visit to the United States during which he is expected to present his plan to defeat Russia to President Joe Biden and other allies.
Zelensky will detail his “victory plan” – which includes kyiv’s long-standing demand to use long-range missiles on targets inside Russia – to Biden for the first time during the visit before sharing it with the two presidential candidates, U.S. lawmakers and international partners, he said.
“This fall will determine the future of this war,” Zelensky said on X from his plane before landing in the United States. “Together with our partners, we can strengthen our positions if necessary for our victory – a shared victory for a truly just peace.”
Zelensky began his visit at the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Biden’s hometown, where he thanked workers for providing munitions to Ukraine and said the plant would ramp up production of 155mm artillery shells critical to kyiv’s war effort.
“It is in places like this that you can truly feel that the democratic world can prevail,” he said. “Because of people like these – in Ukraine, in America and in all partner countries – who work tirelessly to ensure that life is protected.”
Zelensky has been pressing Ukraine’s allies to ease arms restrictions and, while there have been signs of a change in the US position, he said on Friday they had not yet received permission.
“We have long-range weapons. But let’s just say we don’t have the necessary quantity of them,” Zelensky told reporters, adding that “neither the United States nor the United Kingdom have given us permission to use these weapons on Russian territory.”
He blamed allies’ reluctance to authorise such use on fears of escalation, but said he hoped his arguments would be heard during his visit.
Zelensky is expected to travel to New York, where he will address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday and meet with leaders of the Global South, the G7, Europe and international organizations.
He will then travel to Washington for talks with Biden and Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
“I want to see what she thinks about this plan to win,” he said of Harris on Friday.
“As I told you, the plan includes not only what is expected of Biden today. It also includes the fact that we will have a different situation after November. That is, there will be a new president in the United States. And we need to talk to each of the candidates about their perception of this.”
Harris expressed support for Ukraine and NATO allies, indicating that she would continue Biden’s policy of supporting Ukraine if elected president.
Zelensky also plans to meet with Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, who in a recent debate declined to say whether he wanted Ukraine to win the war.
